How to Put Together a Successful Exhibition Proposal to Send to Galleries

So you’ve decided that 2013 is the year you have your own art exhibition? Good for you. Now that you’re working toward this goal, the first thing you’ll need to do is find a gallery that’s willing to host it.

Finding a gallery isn’t as simple as choosing one from the phone book. You’ll need to send in an exhibition proposal, and the gallery owner will decide if your exhibition fits with the gallery’s projects for the year. Proposals are usually sought on a yearly basis—so keep up-to-date with your local arts community website, or contact galleries directly to find out closing dates for proposal applications.

Most galleries require you to submit a resume, artist statement, exhibition proposal, and portfolio. Let’s take a look at each one, to see what’s required:

Putting together your resume

Your resume should tell the gallery that you are a serious artist who has had some experience of the art world before. The gallery will want to see that you will be able to bring visitors their way.

Your resume needs to be functional and concise. This is not a document to showcase your creativity and design skills. Focus on the content of the resume above all.

Writing your artist statement

The artist statement explains your interests and influences; it distills your artistic experience and expression into a short, cohesive narrative about your work.

You will probably need short (50-100 words) and long (500 words) artist statements. Write the long one first, then distill it down to its essential points. When writing your statement, it helps to look at the statements of other artists, and to think about:

• Why you create your art and what it means to you
• The techniques you use that make your work unique
• Why you chose your medium
• Who you are and how your art has affected you as a person

Use simple, down-to-earth language. Avoid jargon, and don’t compare your work to other famous artists.

Creating your exhibition proposal

Now we get to the most important part of your package – the exhibition proposal. This document tells the gallery what you plan to achieve with their space and helps them to decide if your exhibition concept is a good fit for the gallery.

Your proposal should consist of a written explanation of the concept behind your exhibition, plus at least 12 images to accompany the written report.

In your exhibition proposal, you need to tell the gallery:

• The appearance, theme and aesthetic of the exhibition
• The minimum size of the wall/floor area you’ll need
• Any unusual requirements, like projections or large constructions
• When the exhibition will be available (be flexible!)
• The materials you’ll use, and their health/safety factors, if any
• If you can offer any educational elements alongside the exhibition

That last note is especially important, because any sort of community outreach (like workshops, classes, lectures, etc) will raise your application to the top of the pile.

Submitting your portfolio

Finally, you’ll also need to submit a portfolio of your work, including commissions, editorial work and pictures from different exhibitions you’ve been involved in.

Your supporting images will need to include either pictures of the finished works or, if the work is not yet constructed, examples of past pieces that represent the style you’ll be using. Don’t send originals or sketches—use a PDF file on a CD or pen drive, or submit a printed portfolio.

Although this all sounds like a lot of work, once you get started creating your exhibition proposal it’s really not that difficult. Just make sure to get a handle on your overarching concept before you begin the proposal, and then follow the suggestions above to finish each task.

Perhaps that's not a question you've heard a lot as an artist. Perhaps you think it's a silly question. Perhaps you think your story is obvious—visible in your work.

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